The Los Angeles Sparks and the Phoenix Mercury completed a blockbuster deal late Saturday night, sending Kelsey Plum to the desert in exchange for Monique Akoa Makani and picks.
The full deal will see Los Angeles add Akoa Makani, a 2027 1st round pick, and a 2028 2nd round pick for the 5x All-Star guard. It’s an eyebrow raising deal for both sides as it creates numerous questions for the Sparks and Mercury front offices alike.
Acquiring a player like Plum is usually a move that a contending team, looking to add the final piece of a championship puzzle, would make ahead of the trade deadline. Instead, Plum actually moves to a team that’s a half game worse in the standings than her current squad.
Had the two sides announced an extension as part of the deal, it would make more sense for a Mercury side that’s largely underperformed this season due to injuries and inconsistent play. However, reports suggest that Plum still intends to go through the full free agency process this offseason. As such, there’s a very real world in which Phoenix loses an asset, a first and a second round pick, while still missing out on the postseason altogether.
There’s no doubt that when healthy, Plum is a difference maker on the court. Currently averaging 23.9pts/6.4ast per game, the 5’8″ guard will need to return to her pre-injury form where she was leading the WNBA in scoring if Phoenix hopes to chase down the New York Liberty (6 games ahead) for the final playoff spot this year.
Meanwhile, Akoa Makani is currently averaging 9.4pts/2.5ast per game across 23.4 minutes per night in her 2nd WNBA season. The 25 year old is under contract for another season beyond 2026, making her a piece that Los Angeles can factor into their future plans.
An additional 1st round pick is a win for Los Angeles who largely fumbled their last attempt at a rebuild. Whether the directive to fast track the process came from ownership or the recently fired GM Raegan Pebley remains to be seen. However, it’s been largely agreed upon by executives across the league that LA’s decision to bring in veterans such as Plum, Nneka Ogwumike, and Ariel Atkins rather than slowly building around pieces such as Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson backfired spectacularly for the franchise.
Now, they face a future in which they’ll likely miss the playoffs for a 6th straight season, and will need teams like the Mercury, Tempo, Sun, and Storm to start winning games in a hurry if they hope to bottom out for better pick. In sending arguably their best player to the Mercury, they’ve likely helped one of those goals become a reality. One in which the club hopes will help them undo the ill-fated Jackson for Atkins deal they club made on April 12th.
While the 6’2″ forward has been limited to just 4 games this season with Chicago due to an ACL injury, she’s already shown flashes of what made her a former top 5 pick by averaging 18pts/4.8reb/2.0ast per contest with the Sky.
Phoenix will travel to Chicago on Monday for a 9pm ET matchup, while LA will take on the Portland Fire in a 3:30pm ET showdown on Sunday. As of this writing, the Mercury have yet to confirm whether Plum will take the court or not for her team debut.
Photo: John Mac. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.